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Vlambeer is a Dutch independent video game developer based in Utrecht. Founded in 2010, the studio was composed of Rami Ismail and Jan Willem Nijman. The studio is known for the games Super Crate Box (2010), (2011), Ridiculous Fishing (2013), Luftrausers (2014), and Nuclear Throne (2015), as well as for their stand against video game cloning.
Vlambeer was approached by publisher Devolver Digital to develop a game in the Serious Sam franchise. The studio and Devolver Digital agreed to develop and publish a turn-based role-playing game. The result, , was released on 24 October 2011. During the development of Serious Sam: The Random Encounter, Vlambeer released many small games, most notably Luftrauser. Vlambeer started development on an iOS version of Radical Fishing called Ridiculous Fishing. Development was halted after a San Francisco–based studio released a clone of Radical Fishing on iOS. This generated discussion about the cloning of video games and led Vlambeer to be somewhat of an icon on the topic. Someone Else’s Solutions . PocketNext. Retrieved on 13 August 2012. The term "Vlambeer'd" was introduced by several media outlets. SF Molyjam: A Tale Of Three Parkour Romances . Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved on 13 August 2012. In November 2013, the browser game Vlambeer Clone Tycoon was launched to provide a satirical comment on the issue of Vlambeer's cloning ordeals. Vlambeer Clone Tycoon . IndieStatik. Retrieved on 13 December 2013.
In February 2012, Vlambeer released Gun Godz, a first-person shooter inspired by hip-hop, in collaboration with Brandon Boyer's Venus Patrol. VENUS PATROL: charting a new course for videogame culture by Brandon Boyer — Kickstarter . Kickstarter.com (7 September 2011). Retrieved on 2012-08-13. Ridiculous Fishing was nominated for the 2012 Independent Games Festival "Best Mobile" award. The 14th Annual Independent Games Festival Finalists . Igf.com. Retrieved on 13 August 2012. At the conference where the award ceremony was held, Vlambeer released Yeti Hunter. Vlambeer to release Yeti Hunter from GDC show floor . The Verge. Retrieved on 13 August 2012.
On 2 December 2012, Vlambeer announced a sequel to Luftrauser called Luftrausers. On 19 December 2012, Vlambeer released the iOS version of Super Crate Box. Its success prevented the studio from going out of business due to the financial ramifications of the decreased motivation caused by the cloning incident. On 14 March 2013, Vlambeer released Ridiculous Fishing on iOS after resuming its development.
In 2015, they experimented with live streaming their development process and had at one point over 12,000 paid subscriptions to their Twitch channel.
On 5 December 2015, Vlambeer released Nuclear Throne, a top-down shooter roguelike which had been in Steam's early access program since 2013. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, receiving positive reviews from users.
On 8 August 2016, Vlambeer announced 120 Years Of Vlambeer And Friends. Bringing back arcade games since 1896, an art and history book of the company written by Arjan Terpstra and published by Cook & Becker.
Ismail received the Ambassador Award at the March 2018 Game Developers Choice Awards for his support of independent video game development through both Vlambeer and other activities.
On 1 September 2020, the tenth anniversary of the studio's formation, Vlambeer announced that the studio would come to a close. Ismail and Nijman had made the decision a few weeks prior, having come to recognize they were moving in separate directions within the video game industry since 2016. They had plans to release a final game, Ultrabugs, which has yet to be released . Ismail plans to continue to work on supporting advocacy for diversity within the video game industry while Nijman expects to continue to help develop smaller games similar to Minit with other teams.
In April 2024, Ismail sold his shares of the company to Nijman, giving him 100% ownership. Nijman reopened the studio, intending to release improvements to their existing games as well as to complete Ultrabugs after he finished his current unannounced project outside the Vlambeer label.
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